The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [315]
“But, Udāyin, since it is taught in your own teachers’ doctrine: ‘This is the perfect splendour, this is the perfect splendour!’—what is that perfect splendour?”
“Venerable sir, that splendour is the perfect splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime.”
“But, Udāyin, what is that splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime?” [33]
“Venerable sir, that splendour is the perfect splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime.”
10. “Udāyin, you might continue for a long time in this way. You say: ‘Venerable sir, that splendour is the perfect splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime,’ yet you do not indicate what that splendour is. Suppose a man were to say: ‘I am in love with the most beautiful girl in this country.’ Then they would ask him: ‘Good man, that most beautiful girl in this country with whom you are in love—do you know whether she is from the noble class or the brahmin class or the merchant class or the worker class?’ and he would reply: ‘No.’ Then they would ask him: ‘Good man, that most beautiful girl in this country with whom you are in love—do you know her name and clan?…Whether she is tall or short or of middle height?…Whether she is dark or brown or golden-skinned? …What village or town or city she lives in?’ and he would reply: ‘No.’ And then they would ask him: ‘Good man, do you then love a girl you have never known or seen?’ and he would reply: ‘Yes.’ What do you think, Udāyin, that being so, would not that man’s talk amount to nonsense?”
“Surely, venerable sir, that being so, that man’s talk would amount to nonsense.”
“But in the same way, Udāyin, you say thus: ‘That splendour is the perfect splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime,’ yet you do not indicate what that splendour is.”
11. “Venerable sir, just as a beautiful beryl gem of purest water, eight-faceted, well cut, lying on red brocade, glows, radiates, and shines, of such splendour is the self [surviving] unimpaired after death.”783
12. “What do you think, Udāyin? This beautiful beryl gem of purest water, eight-faceted, well cut, lying on red brocade, [34] which glows, radiates, and shines, or a glowworm in the thick darkness of the night—of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?”—“The glowworm in the thick darkness of the night, venerable sir.”
13. “What do you think, Udāyin? This glowworm in the thick darkness of the night or an oil-lamp in the thick darkness of the night—of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?”—“The oil-lamp, venerable sir.”
14. “What do you think, Udāyin? This oil-lamp in the thick darkness of the night or a great bonfire in the thick darkness of the night—of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?”—“The great bonfire, venerable sir.”
15. “What do you think, Udāyin? This great bonfire in the thick darkness of the night or the morning star towards dawn in a clear cloudless sky—of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?”—“The morning star towards dawn in a clear cloudless sky, venerable sir.”
16. “What do you think, Udāyin? The morning star towards dawn in a clear cloudless sky or the full moon at midnight in a clear cloudless sky on the Uposatha day of the fifteenth—of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?”—“The full moon at midnight in a clear cloudless sky on the Uposatha day of the fifteenth, venerable sir.” [35]
17. “What do you think, Udāyin? The full moon at midnight in a clear cloudless sky on the Uposatha day of the fifteenth, or the full disk of the sun at midday in a clear cloudless sky in autumn in the last month of the rainy season—of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?”—“The full disk of the sun at midday in a clear cloudless